COLUMBIA’S STATUSThe Lions completed the season sweep of Cornell on the road last Saturday to push their win streak to six. After a tightly contested 35 minutes, Columbia held the Big Red to one field goal in the closing moments to come away with a 74-58 win.

YALE’S STATUSThe Bulldogs are coming off a 73-56 loss at Brown last Saturday and have dropped five of their last seven games. After falling behind by 18 points in the second half, Yale pulled within five with just over eight minutes left, but a four-point play by the Bears’ Sean McGonagill swung the momentum back in favor of Brown as they went on for the win.

BROWN’S STATUSSean McGonagill poured in 29 points on 7-of-9 shooting from downtown to lead the Bears to a convincing win at travel partner Yale last Saturday. McGonagill’s performance earnerd him Ivy League Player of the Week honors. The Bears shot 54 percent from the floor, while holding the Bulldogs to just 36.2 percent shooting.

ABOUT THE MATCHUPSColumbia holds a 123-100 record in the all-time series against Yale that dates to the 1901-02 season. The Lions snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Bulldogs in last year’s 59-46 win at Levien Gymnasium last March. Saturday will mark the 132nd meeting between Columbia and Brown going back to 1900-01. The Bears have won the last three contests against the Lions. The last time Columbia swept the Yale-Brown weekend on the road came in 1999-2000.

DID YOU KNOW?The Lions started Ivy League play 2-0 for the first time since 2011 and just the second time since 2000. The last time Columbia won three-straight to start the 14-game tournament was in 1994-95 when they began 4-0 with Jack Rohan patrolling the sidelines.

THE GIVING TREECory Osetkowski (affectionately known as “Tree” to teammates and coaches) played arguably his finest game in blue and white at Cornell on Jan. 25, recording 19 points, nine boards and five blocks. The five rejections were the most for a Lion since Noruwa Agho turned away five shots against Lafayette in 2011.

BALL DON’T LIEOn the heels of setting a single-season program record for free throw percentage (.745) in 2012-13, Columbia has shot it even better from the charity stripe this season. They are currently seventh in the nation and lead the Ancient Eight, converting at a .763 clip. Sophomore Grant Mullins leads the squad and the conference and checks in at No. 15 in the NCAA, knocking down 89 percent of his attempts. Mullins has a two-year percentage of 88.1 and will move to fourth on the Ivy League career list with one more make (min is 120 makes).

REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONEThe Lions’ 3-point shooting has been a strength all season long as they are converting on 40.1 percent of their attempts from long-distance to lead the Ivy League and rank 19th in the nation. If the Lions continue their current pace (8.4 makes per game), the team will have 260 treys, shattering the single-season mark of 218 set in 1996-97.

THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTSIn the latest NCAA rankings that came out on Jan. 28, Columbia was ranked 22nd in the nation in scoring defense, limiting opponents to just 61.7 PPG. The Lions have also improved their field goal (2013-14 - .411/2012-13 - .435) and 3-point percentage defense (2013-14 - .331/2012-13 - .368) from a year ago.

THE LIONS’ DENThrough 10 games, Levien Gymnasium has been an intimidating place to play for opposing teams. Columbia has posted a 9-1 mark on its home floor and has won those games by an average margin of 19.2 points (seven by double-figures).

COLUMBIA IN IVY LEAGUE OPENERSThe Lions improved to 27-31 all-time in Ivy League openers and are 3-1 under the direction of Kyle Smith. Columbia is also 33-25 in its home conference debuts and 17-10 when starting the 14-game tournament in Levien Gymnasium.

THIS ONE GOES TO 11The Lions’ 11 non-conference victories matches the highest total in program history, previously accomplished in 2011-12 when Columbia posted an 11-5 mark before the 14-game tournament also under the direction of Kyle Smith.

RECORD BREAKERSColumbia’s 18 made 3-pointers against Central Penn on Jan. 11 set a new single-game record, breaking the old mark of 16 set against Brown on Feb. 10, 2012 and fell just two shy of the Ivy League standard shared by Cornell (2010) and Princeton (2003).

THE THREE AMIGOSAfter being lumped closely together in the Ivy League scoring race the past few weeks, the trio of Maodo Lo, Grant Mullins and Alex Rosenberg have accomplished something that has not been done at Columbia in over 40 years. The Lions have now had two 20-point scorers in three games, marking the first time that has occured since the 1971-72 season. Lo and Alex Rosenberg each hit the 20-point mark against St. Francis and Stony Brook, while Lo and Mullins accomplished the feat against Central Penn.

THREE-COH-LA!In the second half of the Lions win over Stony Brook on Jan. 8, the squad scored only on 3-point field goals and free throws until the 3:41 mark of the frame.

COMING UP ROSESWhether it has been coming off the bench or starting, Alex Rosenberg has been one of the Lions most consistent players this season. Here are a list of a few of his notable accomplishments this season.• Lions are 6-0 in games he has started.• Named Ivy League Co-Player of the Week on Jan. 6 and Jan. 20.• Became first player to record three-straight 20-plus point games since Brian Barbour did so in January of 2012.• Second in the Ivy League in 3-point field goal percentage (.511) and is seventh in scoring (14.1 PPG).• Has reached double-figures in scoring in his last 14 games.